We're excited to welcome Theta Labs, Inc., as a partner and sponsor for our summer 2018 batch! This is the first year we will be including blockchain startups, and Theta will be a part of that. Theta's founder/CEO, Mitch Liu, an MIT alum, will be a mentor for our teams as well, and Theta's participation will encourage adoption of blockchain in the MIT startup eco-system.

Theta Labs Announces Strategic Blockchain Partnership with Play Labs

Startup incubator to foster ecosystem for streaming content & blockchain during program held at MIT

CUPERTINO, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Theta Labs, Inc., a subsidiary of SLIVER.tv, announced a strategic partnership with Play Labs, a startup accelerator held at the MIT Game Lab on the MIT campus in the summer of 2018.

As part of the agreement, Theta will sponsor the summer 2018 batch of Play Labs (www.playlabs.tv), which was expanded to include blockchain startups coming out of the MIT ecosystem. This year's batch has a particular focus on blockchain in addition to AI, AR and esports. Startups participating in Play Labs can integrate the Theta protocol for video streaming, music, entertainment, esports and other media applications, with a focus on reducing costs and increasing access to content.

"As we roll out the Theta protocol, we are already seeing applications across many industries - esports, entertainment, training, music and more," said Mitch Liu, CEO and founder of Theta Labs, Inc. "We are looking to partner with great institutions around the world, and as an MIT alum myself, I believe that the innovative startups from the MIT ecosystem like those in Play Labs are terrific partners to invent new and value-driven applications for this powerful innovation.

The Theta protocol brings the power of blockchain to decentralized video, delivering enhanced quality at significantly lower costs. With Theta, content creators can earn more income while working with intermediaries and platforms for uploading and livestreaming content, and end users can pay or gift streamers and content creators directly. Using a mesh network of PCs, mobile and IOT devices around the world, the Theta network compensates users with Theta tokens for use of extra bandwidth and computing resources to relay video streams. This is particularly effective in countries where existing video content delivery networks (CDNs) do not have significant density and viewers often suffer from poor streaming experiences, such as Brazil.

"A new decentralized video streaming architecture like Theta's can be very disruptive to the entertainment and live streaming industries, especially when considering the surge in video content coming with the rise of esports, VR, 8k and more. Both streaming and blockchain are key technology areas for Play Labs this year and we look forward to fostering an ecosystem that delivers real value," said Riz Virk, Executive Director of Play Labs.

"We are excited to see new innovations with blockchain beyond cryptocurrency," said Rik Eberhardt, Studio Manager for the MIT Game Lab. "And we're are very interested in what new applications Theta Labs and our startups come up with this summer!"

Theta CEO Mitch Liu is an alumnus of MIT and will become a blockchain mentor in the Play Labs program. Theta Labs VP of Corporate Development, Riz Virk, also an MIT alumnus, is the Executive Director of Play Labs and works closely with all of the startups in the program.

The Play Labs accelerator is a playful tech accelerator dedicated to helping startups using playful technology launch. Play Labs provides funding, facilities, and most importantly, mentorship to startups from the MIT ecosystem. The Play Labs program runs in the summer on campus in Cambridge, MA at MIT and has a widely watched Demo Day at the end of the program. The MIT Game Lab is part of Ludus, the MIT Center for Games, Learning and Playful Media.

About SLIVER.tv / Theta LabsSLIVER.tv is a leading interactive esports live streaming platform with over five million monthly user visits. SLIVER.tv is the parent company of Theta Labs, a blockchain project creating a decentralized, user-powered video mesh network. Theta aims to provide higher quality streaming around the world while lowering costs for content delivery and helping content creators capture more of their advertising revenue. Learn more at SLIVER.tv and ThetaToken.org.

ABOUT PLAY LABSPlay Labs (www.playlabs.tv) is an incubator/accelerator which invests and mentors startups that are utilizing playful technology in a variety of industries. The span of playful technology includes Blockchain, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and esports. During the program, each cohort is mentored by a group of MIT staff as well from successful entrepreneurs, which include many MIT Alumni. Play Labs is hosted on the MIT Campus by the MIT Game Lab during the summer and the next batch will be summer, 2018.